Find out how to register with our Disability and Mental Health Service, access support and talk about any adjustments you may require.
Background
Students will need to register with the Disability and Mental Health Service in order to receive support. If you have declared your disability to the University through your application or the student record system (OSIS), this will not automatically allow you to access support. You will still need to get in touch with our service and register for support.
All students must complete the following steps to register with our service and receive support:
- Provide supporting evidence of your disability
- Meet with a Disability Advisor / Mental Health Advisor in order to discuss the support that you need and set up a Summary of Support Needs (SoSN) Support Plan
- Sign our Consent to Share Agreement
If you haven’t done so already we would encourage you to contact us in order to talk about the support available to you and ensure any adjustments are made in time for your arrival at Kingston University. Your Disability Adviser / Mental Health Advisor will also assist you in the process of applying for DSA, if you are eligible for this support or advise you of the alternative support options available to you if not.
You can contact the Disability and Mental Health team and your named Adviser as many times as you need to throughout your course, the team is available all year round and happy to help with any support-related matters.
We also runs a transition day for autistic students during the summer prior to enrolment, to help you find out more about studying with us. If you have declared your diagnosis to the University on your application, we will contact you to invite you to the transition day, but if you have not yet declared and you would like to find out more, please contact us by emailing disability@kingston.ac.uk
How could this affect me?
Register with us
If you would like to receive support on your course, you will need to register with the Disability and Mental Health Service.
We won’t tell anybody about you contacting or registering with us, unless you give us permission to do so. If you do want support, we may have to tell some people to be able to put this in place, but only with your written consent.
If you register with the Disability and Mental Health Service, this won’t be added to your degree certificate, and we won’t tell your future employers. By registering with our service, you are not ‘registered disabled’. Your information will always be confidential.
To register with our service, you will need to provide appropriate medical and/ or diagnostic evidence of your disability.
- If you have a Specific Learning difference such Dyslexia, we require a full diagnostic report from a Specialist Teacher or Educational Psychologist. The report structure must follow the SpLD Assessment Standards Committee (SASC) guidance. Please contact us if you have any questions about gaining evidence.
- If you have another type of disability (including long term physical, sensory or mental health conditions), we require a letter from your GP or Healthcare Practitioner confirming your diagnosis, its impact and that your condition has or is expected to last for 12 months or longer. Alternatively, please ask your GP to complete the DSA Medical Evidence Form and then submit this to us.
Evidence must:
- be completed by a relevant professional;
- follow sector standards where appropriate e.g. Dyslexia/Specific learning differences
- state the name of your disability, impairment or long-term health condition;
- state whether it is temporary, long-term or permanent;
- be up-to-date and where relevant, provide a prognosis and (expected) duration of the condition;
- state how the disability/impairment affects you;
- indicate wherever possible what study-related support or adjustments you may require.
Please note: adjustments outlined in evidence or received before attending Kingston University may not be replicated. This is to ensure equity. Different countries and/or Higher Education Institutions may have different standards. You will not automatically receive the recommended adjustments as they are for guidance only/
What is a Summary of Support Needs Document?
Once you have registered with the Disability and Mental Health Service, you will receive a Summary of Support Needs (SoSN) document. It will be available on OSIS, our student record system.
The SoSN will provide a summary of your diagnosis and its impact. It will also include recommendations for reasonable adjustments tailored to your individual needs and course requirements.
Your SoSN will be shared with relevant members of your faculty, including your course team. This is so they are aware of your needs and able to organise and facilitate the support we have suggested within your SoSN.
Consent to share
As part of registering with the Disability and Mental Health Service, we will ask you to sign our Consent to Share Agreement. This is so you can give your explicit written consent to share information about yourself. Nothing will be shared until you complete this form, even if you have sent in supporting medical evidence and have declared a disability on your application form.
We will respect your right to disclosure and confidentiality, and you can choose what information is to be shared and who to share it with. Please note in some circumstances, choosing not to share your disability may limit the types of adjustments that can be put in place.
If you have any concerns about disclosing your disability, please contact us as we will be able to advise you and support you through the process.
When we might need to share your information
In very rare circumstances we may need to disclose information to third parties without your express permission. This would only happen if there was a serious risk to your own or others’ safety or if we were compelled to disclose the information by law. In such circumstances we would, where possible, endeavour to discuss matters with you before taking any action.
In the event of a serious and/or imminent risk of major harm, other members of the University may be informed or called upon to assist in managing the immediate situation. In these circumstances the Disability and Mental Health Service will, wherever possible, limit any disclosure to only information that is necessary in the circumstances.
Parents and guardians can read more about the information that can be shared about their child at University on our ‘who do we support’ page.
What to do next?
Contact the Disability and Mental Health team
Practical tips
- Email: disability@kingston.ac.uk
- Telephone: +44 (0)20 8417 6000 (Option 2 for the Information Centre)
- Web: https://www.kingston.ac.uk/disability/
Questions to think about
It might be useful to think about:
- how you would like to describe your autism and anything you think would be useful to share with your tutors
- any support you have received in the past, what has worked well and what hasn’t worked for you
- how you plan to travel to university
- your experience of teaching sessions, what helps you to gain an understanding of a new topic or task
- how you have found note taking and researching for assignments
- how you have found assessments in the past, e.g. exams, essays, presentations, etc.
- how you feel about group work, placement and practical tasks
Additional information
If you decide that you are going to attend a different University we would recommend that you contact the Disability Advice team at your chosen university.